Improvement in shoe-fastenings



P. HARRIS.

SHOE-FASTENING? No.177,39 6. Patented May'1 6,187 6.

W'iZnes-se s .111 veni'ar N. PETERS. FHOTD UTNOGRAPHEE WASHINGTON- D C.

' NITED STAEES PHILIP HARRIS, or QHATHAM, ENGLAND.

IMPROVEMENT IN SHOE-FASTENINGS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. I 77,396, dated May 16, 1876; application filed April 4, 1876. v

1' 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, PHILIP HARRIS, lieutenant-colonel royal marines, light infantry, of Chatham, in the county of Kent, England, have invented certain Improvements in Olosing and Fastening Boots, and in the means or apparatus employed therefor, of which the following is a specification This invention consists in closing and fastening boots by the employment of a bowline strap and runner-buckle, whereby the boot is fastened with facility and by one operation without undue looseness and tightness.

To make my invention better understood, I will proceed to describe the same by reference to the accompanying drawing, in which 4 v Figure l is an elevation, of the inside of a boot made according to my improvements,

and shown closed and fastened on thefoot;

Fig. 2, anelevation of the outsideof the same, and Fig. 3 is an elevation of the boot before being closed and fastened.

Similar letters in all the figures represent similar parts. I v

I take as the basis for carrying out my invention the old lace-up boot without any holes being made in it for laces. Instead of holes, and to fasten the boot A on the foot, I use a flap of leather, B, somewhat in the shape of the letter 1), blocked to fit the instep. This flap B is securely stitched into that side of the upper of the boot commonly known as the outside of the foot, as seen at a a a, Fig. 2, by one of its edges only, the bow part b of the flap B being downward toward the toe 0.

Onto the flying or inner side 01 of the flap B I attach, by one of its ends 0, a strap ofleather,

O, which 1 call the bowline-strap. The bowline-strap G is passed through two D buckles or rings, f g, fixed to the inside of the boot, and also through a D buckle or ring, h, fixed to the flying or inner side of the flap B, and.

the end 0 of the strap 0 is stitched to the inside of the boot at '5.

between the buckles f g. A strap, E, which I call the ankle-strap, is attached to the run- The strap 0 also passes through a runner-buckle, k, Figs. 2 and 3,

bowline-strap by means of the said buckle is. To the flying or inner side d of the flap B, and at the upper end thereof, I also fix a buckle, l, which I call the instep-buckle, for fastening the ankle-strap E when the boot has been closed and tightened. m is the ordinary leather tongue employed with this class of boot.

Fig. 3 shows the 'boot placed on the foot ready to be closed and fastened. To close the boot the ankle-strap E must be pulled downward, as shown in this figure,- so as to draw the bowline-strap 0 through the runtier-buckles f g, and thus draw down the flap B. The bowline-strap G is then brought, by means of the ankle-strap E, upward and toward the outside of the foot, and will cause theflap B to be drawn down toward the in side in two parallel directionsviz, from the fore part of the instep to the hollow of the .foot, and from the bend between the instep The flap B is and ankle toward the heel. now held securely down over the instep, and efl'ectually closes the boot, and the fastening process is continued by pulling the ankle-- strap E round the outside of the instep and the ankle, as shown in Fig. 2, and so on toward the inside until it meets the instepbuckle I, through which it is passed and fastened.

For heavy boots the tongue at may be dispensed with, andthe runner-buckle h also, in which case the end 6 of the bowline-strap 0 would be attached to the flying or inner side 01 of the flap B.

By these improvements not only may the boot be fastened on by one operation, but any undue looseness or tightness in buckling is obviated by the readiness with which, by the use of the bowline-strap and runner-buckle, the looseness or tightness distributes itself all over the fastening apparatus and the boot itself.

The fastening on or pulling off this boot may also be effected in a position most easy and natural to the human frame, because the inside of the foot is the part operated on, and a person can place one foot on the opposite knee, and so fasten on the boot with a comfort hitherto unattainable. In'case of swellk, for closing boots or shoes, substantially ing, dampness, soreness, or wounds this is of as shown and described. i great importance.

, Having thus described my invention, and PHIL. HARRIS,

the manner of performing the same, what I Lieut. Colonel R. M. L. I. claim is- I Witnesses:

The flap B, in combination with strap 0 G. J. REDFERN, and ankle-strap E, provided with a runner, W. AIME. 

